Kazakhs
]; in
Russian:
Казах; English term is the
transliteration from Russian) are a Turkic people of the northern parts of
Central Asia (largely Kazakhstan, but also found in parts of Russia and China). They have been famous in the past for the fierce love of freedom, skillful horse riding, hunting with semi-domesticated eagles, and currently (as of
2003), for the rapid economic growth of the independent state of
Kazakhstan.The word "Kazakh" was included in a
Turkish-
Arabian dictionary of the
13th century AD. The meaning of this word was given as "independent" or "free." The true meaning of the word is a matter of debate: some say it is related to
"Aq qaz", which means "white goose." The name Kazakh, both for the people and for the nation itself, is said to reference the horseback culture and is related to the term "
cossack" that takes its origin from the same Turkic word. Other theories exist as well.
Mostly, Kazakhs belong to one of three
Jüz (Жүз): Higher juz (
Ulı jüz), Middle juz (
Orta jüz), and Junior juz (
Kişi jüz). There are tribes (
taypa) and clans (
rw) in every juz. There are also three groups outside juz system: töre (direct descendants of
Genghis Khan), qoja (descendants of
Arabian missionaries and warriors), and töleñgit (descendants of
Oirat captives).
|
Bride's wedding dress, Groom's costume, Interior of a Kiyiz Uy - Kazakh national house |
Persian,
Russian and in smaller degree
Arab cultures influenced the current Kazakh traditions. Modern Kazakhstan is the location of
Sarmatians described in a segment of the PBS "Secrets of the Dead" series,
"Warrior Amazon Women"Anthropologically, Kazakhs are a Mongoloid people descended from both Turkic tribes like Kumic and Kipchaks, Mongol groups like Oirats and Naimans (40%), and, to a much lesser degree, Iranian nomads like the Wusun, Samartians and Scythians who remained in Central Asia when the Turkic and Mongol groups started to invade and conquer the area between the 5th and 13th centuries A.D.
Kazakhs are mostly fairly dark skinned, with almond shaped dark eyes, high cheekbones and black, straight, coarse hair and with acquiline noses. But some are fair skinned ,and hazel or even blue eyes are not uncommon.
The Kazakh language is a member of the
Turkic language family, as are
Uzbek,
Kyrgyz,
Tatar,
Uighur,
Turkish,
Azeri,
Turkmen, and many other living and historical languages spoken in
Eastern Europe,
Central Asia,
Xinjiang, and
Siberia.
Kazakh is a member of the so-called
Kipchak subgroup of the Turkic family, as for example is
Qaraqalpaq. Kazakh is characterized, in distinction to other Turkic languages, by the presence of /s/ in place of reconstructed proto-Turkic */š/ and /š/ in place of */ç/; furthermore, Kazakh has /j/ (
alveodental affricate) where other Turkic languages have /y/ (
glide). These are just some of the many phonological differences between Kazakh and other Turkic languages.
|
Toktar Aubakirov - The first Kazakh in space |
Kazakh, like most Turkic languages, arguably lacks phonemic
vowel length, and as such there is no distinction between long and short vowels.
Before 1917, Kazakh was written in the
Arabic alphabet. Between 1917 and 1926 it was written with a modified version of the
Latin alphabet similar to that used for
Republican Turkish. Since 1926 it has been written in a variant of the
Cyrillic script with characters beyond what is used for Russian to represent phonemes not present in Russian. Today there are many resources, esepcially online, written in the Roman alphabet, but there is no standardised orthography.
Kazakh is one of the principal languages spoken in
Kazakhstan, along with
Russian. It is also spoken in the
Ili region of the
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in the
People's Republic of China, where the Arabic script is still used, and parts of Mongolia.
|
A Kazakh shepherd south of Aqtöbe, western Kazakhstan |
Traditionally, Kazakhs tracked their
tribal roots. Every Kazakh was supposed to know his or her tribe and all grandparents of at least 7 generations. Kazakhs were not allowed to marry if they had a common predecessor within 7 generations. When a man and a woman marry, their children usually become members of the husband's tribe. Inter-tribe marriages were encouraged.
In modern Kazakhstan, tribalism is officially prohibited, practically almost negligible, and definitely fading away in business and government life. It is common for Kazakhs to ask which tribe they belong to when they meet each other. Nowadays, it is more of a tradition than necessity. There is no hostility between tribes. Kazakhs, regardless of their tribal origin, consider themselves one nation.
The Kazakhs also form one of the
56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the
People's Republic of China.
There is one Kazakh
autonomous prefecture in the People's Republic of China: the
Illi Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, in the
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. There are also three Kazakh
autonomous counties:
Aksai Kazakh Autonomous County in
Gansu and
Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County and
Mori Kazakh Autonomous County in the
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
|
Early 20th Century photograph of Kazakhs |
Pockets of Kazakhs can be found in the Oblasts bordering Kazakhstan. The 2002 Russian census recorded 655,000 Kazakhs.
*
List of Kazakh historical figures*
Demographics of Kazakhstan*
Suhbat (Atameken Toby)*
Welcome to Kazakstan-1*
Welcome to Kazakstan-2
